Villanova women claim Big 5 title, La Salle men drop third straight in loss to Lafayette
Locals in college basketball action for Wednesday, Dec. 21
Led by Maddy Siegrist’s third consecutive 30-point performance, Villanova cruised to an 81-55 women’s basketball victory over La Salle to clinch the Big 5 title for the eighth consecutive time.
Siegrist led Villanova (10-3) with 31 points and 11 rebounds, her second straight double-double and sixth of the season.
Sophomore guard Lucy Olsen added 19 points, eight assists, and six rebounds while fellow sophomore Kaitlyn Orihel finished with a career-high 18 points, making 4 of 5 shots from three-point range.
Graduate student Kayla Spruill led La Salle (8-6) with 14 points, while seniors Gabby Crawford and Claire Jacobs finished with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
St. Joseph’s suffers first home loss in final of Hawk Classic
Despite a 31-point effort from sophomore guard Mackenzie Smith, St. Joseph’s found itself of the latter end of a 78-66 final to James Madison in the final game of the Hawk Classic at Hagan Arena.
Olivia Mullins added 12 points playing a full 40 minutes, becoming the first St. Joe’s (10-2) player to do so this season.
Kseniia Koslova and Kiki Jefferson led James Madison (10-2) with 18 points apiece.
“I’m very proud of the fact that we’re 10-2 going into our conference,” Hawks head coach Cindy Griffin said following her team’s final nonconference game. “We’re not going to take one loss and forget all the things that we have done so far this year.”
The Hawks open Atlantic 10 play on the road against La Salle on New Year’s Eve (2 p.m., ESPN+).
Temple falls to Ole Miss in final nonconference game
Jasha Clinton scored 16 points, and Tiarra East added 14 in a 75-55 loss to Ole Miss Wednesday at McGonigle Hall.
Tarriyonna Gary added 11 for the Owls (5-7) in their final nonconference game before opening American Athletic Conference play at home against Memphis on Dec. 30 (2 p.m.).
Madison Scott and Tyia Singleton powered Mississippi (11-2) with 16 points each.
Drexel women rout Delaware State
Keishana Washington had 21 points and four assists, Grace O’Neill added 13 points and seven rebounds, and Drexel beat Delaware State, 62-44.
Drexel (8-3) led, 33-26, at halftime before outscoring Delaware State, 15-9, in the third quarter to pull away. Savannah Brooks and Tyshonne Tollie led the Hornets (2-8) with 12 points each. Jessica Martino had a game-high 11 boards.
Drexel begins Colonial Athletic Association play Dec. 29 against North Carolina-Wilmington (7 p.m., FloHoops).
Lafayette thumps La Salle
Philly native Mike Jordan, now the coach at Lafayette, received an early Christmas present Wednesday as his Leopards dispatched La Salle, 90-65, at Tom Gola Arena.
The loss was La Salle coach Fran Dunphy’s third ever to Lafayette. Dunphy has a 16-3 career mark against the Leopards (15-2 as coach of Penn, 1-0 as Temple coach, 0-1 with La Salle).
The Explorers (5-7) were led by Khalil Brantley with 14 points and Josh Nickelberry with 10. Anwar Gill and Hassan Drame added seven points apiece.
CJ Fulton led Lafayette (2-11) with a career-high 20 points, while Leo O’Boyle (13), Josh Rivera (12), and T.J. Berger (10) also scored in double figures.
Drexel men’s game called off
The men’s basketball game between Drexel and Fairfield scheduled for Thursday in Fairfield, Conn., has been postponed because of COVID-19 health and safety protocols within Drexel’s program.
The game was set to be the Dragons’ final nonconference contest of the season. Drexel (6-6) opens CAA play at home against Elon on Dec. 29. However, according to a release from Drexel, the schools are hoping to reschedule the game.
The postponement is believed to be the second in Division I men’s basketball this season because of COVID-19 protocols. On Monday, ESPN reported the cancellation of a game between Rhode Island and Milwaukee because of an outbreak on Rhode Island’s team.